1st or 2nd dining??

[Jax129]

I can't decide between first and second seating for dinner. I will be taking my first cruise on the Mariner soon. I am usually starving by 8:30 but want to have plenty of time to enjoy the Islands and shower before dinner. 6:15 seems so early. Did any of you at first seating feel rushed to get there? Thoughts?

[maggieworkman]

The first question I would ask is whether or not you have kids. And if so, what are their ages?? It makes a difference because of the kids club activities.

 

I have experienced both now, so I feel I can give an answer. We did the early seating the first 2 cruises because we felt we would be starving by 8:30. This trip we did the late seating. I think I really prefer the late seating. We definitely were rushed to get showered and ready for dinner when we had the early seating. I think it depends on your itinerary though. If you have to board from the port by 2:30 or 3:30, it doesn't mattter too much. But when you can stay later, you either have to leave the port early or give up dinner in the dining room. This happened to us at Nassau. We had booked a room at Atlantis so we could enjoy the pools. But we felt we had to leave by 3 pm so we could make it back to the ship and shower and get ready for formal night (Sovereign). This trip on the Majesty, we requested second seating so we didn't have to rush back from Atlantis.

 

I thought we would be starving by 8:30, but actually I was just starting to get hungry by that time. You eat so much on the cruise that you won't be starving. One night I was a little hungry around 6 pm, so I went to Sorrentos and got one slice of pizza to hold me over until dinner.Just watch you don't snack too much and then spoil your appetite for dinner.

 

So, if there are no kids involved, I would recommend second seating. I think we are going to do that from now on. If kids (young), you might want to do main seating because many of the activities would be during the late seating. Plus the kids club close during dinner time (I forget the exact times now because my kids were both in the teen club this trip.)

 

Maggie

[MakinGold]

It depends on the itinerary, I guess. On my upcoming cruise, we stop at three ports in a 7-day cruise, and the departure time from one of those ports is 4pm. So there are really only 2 of 7 nights where there's any possibility of port activities taking precedence over preparing for dinner. The departure time for those other two days, though, is 6pm, and we're not likely to be pushing it to get back to the ship at the last minute, anyway. I doubt we'll feel rushed at all by the 6:15 dinner time. If we do happen to be getting back to the ship last minute on one of those port days, we'll just dine at the WindJammer or try to plan it in advance to be a Portofino night. :)

[Jax129]

Thanks for the advice. We don't have kids so we'll probably do 2nd seating. I plan on doing Chops & Portofino as well.

[DEBCAT65]

We recently did late seating on our Vision cruise. However, we were in Alaska and it was still daylight at 10PM. We had our DS 15 and DD 11 with us and they went either to the windjammer if we were on ship, or we picked them up a late snack just to hold them over until the late seating. Really no problem at all. We actually felt more relaxed because we did not have to rush to get to dinner and we did not have to rush because of the next seating.

 

Debbi

[cram33]

Regardless of your dinner seating I find it hard for anyone to ever starve on a cruise :D .

[MakinGold]

So, there you have it. It all comes down to personal preference. I've always done first seating on the cruises I've been on. Out of five 7-day cruises, there are probably 2 or 3 times where I felt the early seating had me rushing a bit to get ready for dinner.

 

I don't think I would like eating at the 8:30 seating, because you finish around 10:00, and I usually finish dinner feeling pretty full. I really don't like going to bed on a full stomach. If I'm going to be up for a couple hours after that anyway, it's not a big problem, but if I've got an early morning planned for the next day, because of excursions or such, I'd rather be getting to bed before midnight.

[medfordgirl]

If you plan on enjoying any midnight buffets (the gala one and one by the pool) you won't if you eat late. when we ate late we couldn't even look at any more food by midnight. we were also so full that we just wanted to go back to our cabin and take off our clothes:eek: when we ate at the early seating we could change if we wanted then head over to see a show and then the buffets were a welcome sight and after that we would go to the cabin and get rid of our clothes;)

[hawkfish]

We like the late seating because it allows you to get ready for the evening at a leisurely pace, or even take a nap, after the day's activities. Before heading to our room, we usually get a drink and a snack somewhere, or order a cheese plate from room service, and enjoy the nibbles on our balcony. Wonderful transition from day to night!

[Inshape]

I totally agree with Maggie. And we have kids cruising with us who will be 11 and 12 for our next cruise and have done late seating the late 3 cruises. There is always a place to get something to eat to tide you over till 8:30.

I found when we did earling seating the kids wanted a snack at 5 and I remember saying NO too close to dinnertime. Now i say FINE, and they still eat dinner.

 

Also, we love staying at the pool at the later part of the day and then grab a snack at the cafe and head to the hot tubs before washing up for dinner or the early shows.

[eh2zed]

We prefer late seating particularly for the reasons articulated by others relative to port departure, etc. But also there is something about a change in routine when on vacation and a bit of sophistication associated with late dinner. There are many, however, for health reasons and being unable to sleep on a full stomach that need to do early.

[cb at sea]

Even with late seating, if you want to see the shows, you will have to be ready by 6:45--late seating shows are BEFORE dinner. So, really, everyone has to get ready at about the same time!

[Bruin Steve]

I've written this one so often that now I just cut and paste it!!:

 

Early versus Late Seating

 

Probably the most debated and most polar question on the board...

 

Some people prefer late, others early...and both groups seem to be convinced they are absolutely right...

 

There are arguments pro and con both seatings...though most may be rationalizations...Most folks could probably adapt well to either seating...but it really is a matter of personal preference...

 

Here's the basic rundown:

 

Late seating afficianados claim:

 

--Late seating has fewer kids (I guess they don't like kids)...

The argument counter to this is that they usually don't seat you at a table with kids unless you yourself have kids...and, depending on time of year and itinerary, most cruises don't have a lot of kids anyway...Also, on some European cruises with a large European contingent, the European families --with kids--are all at the late seating

 

--You don't have to rush through dinner to make way for the next seating...

Counter argument: This is total hogwash...They leave about a 2 to 2-1/4 hour window for EACH seating...plenty of time...and the wait staff wants you out of second seating so they can get their very short sleep time before breakfast...They move you along at BOTH seatings on a very similar schedule...

 

--You don't have to rush back from port to get ready for dinner...

There's sometimes some truth to this one, though far from the absolute some would have you think. Check your itinerary...If the ship sets sail at 5 pm in most ports, you've got to be back on board by maybe 4:30...There's plenty of time to get ready for dinner by 6 (remember "Formal nights" are typically on "at sea days")...unless. of course, you're married to that woman who "needs" 3 hours to dress for dinner...It only really becomes a problem for most of us when a ship is in port very late...and that's where it makes great sense to avail oneself of Specialty restaurants and alternative dining...One cruise, we were in LeHavre late and merely arranged with the Maitre d' to have ourselves accommodated at late seating in that one port--no problem...

 

--They like to have a lot of time pre-dinner to drink martinis and go up on deck and watch the ship shove off from the dock...

This is important, I guess, for some people...not important at all for others...it's a lifestyle choice at best...

 

The arguments for Early Seating:

 

--It leaves a longer window for more nighttime activities...You're done with Dinner by 8:30, you can go to a show, then Karaoke or dancing or the casino...there's a longer night to enjoy the amenities of the ship...

The late seating argument is that there's always a later show...or a pre-dinner show (But, somehow, doesn't that counter the more time to get ready, drink martinis and watch the sailaway argument?)...or that the shows aren't that good or who gives a dang about the Karaoke or the Piano Bar or whatever...Again, it's a lifestyle choice...

 

--You don't go to bed on a full stomach...

I guess it depends on when you go to bed...

 

--You aren't still full for the Midnight Buffet

Well, most ships don't do many Midnight Buffets anymore...and, who can eat again even if you ate back at 6 to 8:30? But, of course, it does leave room for a little late night pizza or other snack...

 

--You don't come back from port hungry and have to wait around several hours before you can eat...

Of course, the Late Seating crowd will tell you they come back and go to the buffet or sushi or wherever for a bite to tide them over while waiting for dinner...

 

Personally, we prefer Early seating because we're accustomed to eating a little earlier while home and don't need much time to get ready for dinner...We also enjoy all of the nighttime activities on the ship...We've often been lucky and have been seated at tables near windows where we can watch the ship shove off while enjoying appetizers and the company of tablemates...

 

But, the real answer is....Whatever works for you...

[Fun@C]

At what time do the 12 and 15 yr old activities start at night on the Mariner? We put in for late seating, and I don't want them to miss out. The reason I chose late is because out of the 4 of us, 3 are female! lol Thanks for any and all advice!

[morgan1312]

One thing I don't see mentioned here if you're sailing with kids, which I know the OP isn't. But...

We're a family who spends alot of time interacting with our grandson when at home so eating dinner together on vacation is not a requirement for us. We take late seating because it's hard for him (he's now 9 going on his 6th cruise) to sit through the dinners in the dining room. He has to do it the first night but after that we don't make him suffer. We feed him around 6:00 pizza, windjammer, room service, whatever then take him to AO at 7:00 for the evening activities.

We then enjoy late dinner in the dining room, we used to pick him up at 9:30 and bring him to the DR for desert, a couple of years ago he learned about the 'late night party zone' and now we're lucky if we can get him out of there before midnite. He'll even promise to use his own allowance for the $5.00/hr charge if we'll just let him stay....